Bas de Leede joins rare group as Netherlands skipper calls for special honour

The Netherlands all-rounder became just the fifth player to score a century and take a five-wicket haul in the same ODI but arguably none have come at a more critical time.

De Leede firstly claimed career-best figures of 5/52 to restrict a surging Scotland to 277, a total Netherlands needed to chase down within 44 overs to snatch a spot at the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2023.

The 23-year-old then calmly steered the Netherlands towards that target, until unleashing from the 41st over with 33 runs from 10 balls to take the Dutch to the brink of victory along with the required net run-rate boost.

An exhausted De Leede was run out for 123 from 92 balls, in an innings that included five sixes and seven boundaries and confirmed his place alongside some all-round greats of the game.

“Build the man a statue. That was an unbelievable game, five wickets and 120-odd there,” Netherlands captain Scott Edwards said with a smile.

“You would be hard pressed to find a better performance in a long time in ODI cricket.

“He is an unbelievable player, we have always known that and everyone is aware of that in teams that have come up against us.

“It is not the first time he has done it, it won’t be the last.”

De Leede is the fifth player to reach a ton and take five wickets in the same ODI, after West Indies legend Viv Richards first hit the dual-milestone against New Zealand in 1987.

England’s Paul Collingwood achieved the feat against Bangladesh in 2005 and Rohan Mustafa matched it for UAE against PNG in 2017, but Amelia Kerr has since raised the bar.

The New Zealand Women’s star scored an undefeated double-century against Ireland alongside a five-for in 2019.

But de Leede’s stunning performance also ensured Netherlands climbed over Scotland into the all-important second spot in the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup Qualifier standings to book their ticket to India.

“We had a look at the target where we wanted to be at the halfway point and I think from there, there is a thing about talking about it, but doing it,” de Leede said.

“Max (O'Dowd) and Vikramjit (Singh) setting up the platform and then the rest of us to come in and finish it off.

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“It was 10 or 11 an over, so for us it was almost like going into T20 mode. Try and get as many runs as we could every over and see where we ended up.

“It is amazing, I can’t describe the feeling. It is going to be one big party tonight, I can tell you that.”